2nd Down & Weekend party on Friday, Sept. 9

UMW News Bureau

The University of Montana Western is throwing a party to celebrate a healthy campus and the start of a new academic and athletic year on Friday, Sept. 9 from 5:30 to 9 p.m.

The event, 2nd Down & Weekend, will take place on the Montana Western Tundra and will feature 5-kilometer and 10-kilometer fun runs, a frisbee golf competition, games for children, a campus and community dinner, live music, DJ sets by campus radio KDWG 90.9 and a football pep rally ahead of the Bulldogs’ first home game on Saturday, Sept. 10.

Beginning at 5:30 p.m., the Montana Western Humans in Performance (HIP) Club will organize the No Ash Dash in honor of UMW’s new tobacco-free campus policy. Montana Western became a tobacco-free campus on Aug. 1, 2011. The 5-kilometer and 10-kilometer runs will depart from the Tundra and continue along Blacktail Road and back. Participants may register at the event between 5 and 5:30 p.m.

Health and human performance students from the Foundations of Health and Physical Education class will organize a frisbee golf competition on Montana Western’s brand new frisbee golf course during the No Ash Dash. Prizes will be awarded to winning teams. Contestants may sign up at the Tundra between 5 and 5:30 p.m.

There will also be additional opportunities to sign up for the No Ash Dash and frisbee golf competition on Wednesday, Sept. 7 from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the UMW Welcome Fair on the Mathews Hall lawn and outside the campus post office; on Thursday, Sept. 8 from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the entry to the Mathews Hall dining hall and at the campus post office. Participants are encouraged to sign up early. Both the No Ash Dash and frisbee golf competitions are free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Janelle Handlos at (406) 683-7391.

Montana Western Dining Services will be serving a campus dinner from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., featuring food from the UMW Campus Community Garden. Students will be able to use their meal plans for the dinner.

Dillon native Kayli Smith, an accomplished singer/songwriter, will perform from 7:15 to 8:30 p.m. A football rally featuring seniors from the Bulldog football squad will conclude the evening’s events.

The UMW Tundra is located on the southeast end of campus outside the P.E. Complex. The event is open to the public.